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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rule · last · root · saw · arm · degree · chest · row

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. rule — government
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. last — final
  5. saw — the tool
  6. chest — of your body
  7. root — of a plant
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. degree — temperature
  11. row — a line
  12. saw — the tool
  13. rule — a law
  14. last — to go on
  15. chest — a box
  16. row — to paddle
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. degree — an amount
  20. last — finally
  21. chest — of your body
  22. root — the cause
  23. root — of a word
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com